The City Council on Tuesday voted 7-0 to sell land off Airport Road to a man who says he would then re-sell part of it to a person who plans to use it for growing cannabis.
Councilors took the second and final vote to sell the undeveloped, city-owned land to Leo St. Peter for $12,000 an acre, with the understanding that the city would cover the cost of a land survey if the sale is completed, but if the sale falls through, then St. Peter will cover the cost.
Councilors on July 2 took a first vote to approve selling him the property, which is beyond the end of the paved part of Airport Road and is part of a much larger parcel the city bought in 2012. The city owns 11 acres at the site.
St. Peter was not at the council meeting Tuesday, but in a telephone interview earlier in the day, he said he would buy the property and sell four or five lots to someone else who wants to put a 100-by-100-foot building on it and run a cannabis growing operation inside it. He declined to name the person but said that person approached him about the idea.
There was no discussion by either St. Peter or councilors at either the July council meeting or at the Tuesday meeting that the ultimate goal was to put a cannabis growing operation on the property.
St. Peter said earlier Tuesday that he owns some 40 acres off Webb Road, abutting the 11 acres the city owns off Airport Road, but he does not have access to Airport Road and wants to see a connector road built between Airport Road and Mitchell Road so that he can have access to Airport Road, and thus, Kennedy Memorial Drive.
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